Wanda English Burnett
Editor
Incumbent
Sheriff Thomas J. Tom Grills handily took the most
votes on the Republican ticket guaranteeing him a spot on the
fall ballot.
The good Lord had his way, Sheriff Grills told The
Versailles Republican shortly after the victory. He was
surrounded by family and friends who cheered loudly when the
final count was shown on the monitors in the courthouse lobby
in Versailles. Grills garnered 2384 votes.
Newcomer to the political scene, Gandy Browning, got 1502 votes
in his bid for sheriff with Donald Edwards trailing with 310
votes.
Browning told The Versailles Republican, We ran
a very positive campaign, Im very proud. He said
he met a lot of wonderful people while campaigning and said
while this was his first try in the political world, it probably
wont be his last.
William Bill Dramann was unopposed on the Democrat ticket for
sheriff.
Another local race Ripley County Republicans were watching closely
was that of auditor.
William Bill Wagner easily won with 2410 votes.
Challenger Mark Busching received 1511 votes.
Wagner watched the numbers closely as did his wife Cathy. As
the precinct results rolled in, he never took his victory for
granted until the end. He told The Versailles Republican
he appreciated every vote. Weve met a lot of people
and seen a lot of places we wouldnt have before the campaign.
Win or lose the race, I would have still felt it was successful
just from the experience, he noted. Of course, he, his
family and campaign crew had worked hard for the end results
and he was pleased.
William J. McDonald narrowly pulled ahead of Dave Simon, by
45 votes, to win the county council seat he was seeking. McDonald
had a lot of family support including grandchildren. My
whole family worked together, he told The Versailles Republican.
He said he was proud of their efforts because they ran an up
front, professional campaign. He said he looks forward to making
a difference for Ripley County once again.
Jeffrey J. Volz had the top votes for the Osgood Town Board
seat on the Republican ticket with 148 votes, followed by Linda
Krinop with 133 and Larry Winters at 97 votes. Norman P. Kappes
was unopposed on the Democrat ticket.
Milan School Board saw the following results with the following
gaining the most votes: Timothy Tim Tuttle (652 votes); Gregory
D. Lewis (652 votes) and Randy Kirk (605 votes).
In Ripley County Randy Frye garnered the most votes with 1206
followed by Cindy Meyer Ziemke with 1078 votes for Republican
candidate for State Representative for District 67. Frye went
on to take the entire district and win the race overall.
Travis Hankins handily took Ripley County for US Representative
District 9 with 2733 votes followed by Mike Sodrel with 892
votes. However, the end results saw him defeated by only 304
votes with Todd Young pulling ahead the victor for the Republican
party. He will face incumbent Democrat Baron Hill in the fall
election.
A large rally was held election night at the Osgood Town Hall
for Hankins with local supporters. The newcomer to the political
world gave a powerful speech and told those gathered to save
their signs he would be back.
Johnny Nugent, Republican, had 3053 votes from Ripley County
voters with his challenger Lindsay Patterson getting 1015 votes
for State Senator for District 43.
Dan Coats led the way for Indiana US Senator on the Republican
ballot with 1775 votes from Ripley County voters. He went on
to win the race for the seat. Coats stated, We will run
the race that is set before us with total dedication and total
commitment.
In Ripley County Martin Marty Brunner pulled ahead (335 votes)
of Jud McMillin (311) votes for the State Representative District
68 race. Incumbent State Representative Robert J. Bischoff was
unopposed on the Democrat ticket.
According to Mary Ann McCoy, Ripley County Clerk, the process
went smoothly with the first precinct reporting before 6:30
p.m. Tuesday night at the courthouse. Although McCoy has been
the clerk in years past, this was her first time with
the new machines.
Voter turnout was low - but usual for a primary election. There
are 19,867 registered voters in the county with only 5319 ballots
cast for a total of 26.77% voting. There are 27 precincts in
the county.